


I Can't "More Than Survive" Without You

by Turntechgodliness (AmberzillaRex), TwoPlayerGame



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: But I'll give warnings for like, Divorce, Drug Use, I don't really know how to tag things, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Most of these people are only mentioned lololol, Recreational Drug Use, Self-Harm, and Christine and Jake are a thing but it's only mentioned, but it's cute boyf riends, drug mention, everyone get your permission slips for a feels trip, parental neglect, this gets feelsy later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-06-22 22:35:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15592269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmberzillaRex/pseuds/Turntechgodliness, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoPlayerGame/pseuds/TwoPlayerGame
Summary: Jeremy: Man, if I were into guys, Michael would be totally my type.Jeremy: Wait, am I into guys!?-A summaryThis loosely follows the play, with some obvious differences. Jeremy is an awkward and terrible child, and Michael is warm and soft but kind of manic. We love them both. Enjoy!





	1. Highschool Is Whack

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fandom-related thing I've done in a long ass time. I was an OG Homestuck, and that was my last fandom lol. This was made by me and my husband Dave. An RP, edited into a readable thing. Enjoy!

School.

Every day was the same thing, even two weeks into junior year. Nothing had changed from the previous year, so he wasn't sure why he should have expected anything at all. The bitter disappointment of still being the class loser hits heavily this term, making Jeremy Heere... well, nothing out of the ordinary. He’d always been like this- anxious and jumpy, maybe a little bit high strung and low at the same time.  
  
That being said, he wasn’t completely zoned out yet. There was still plenty of spatial awareness to make the brunette able to smell his best friend Michael Mell from six feet away. He smelled like pot, and somehow always got away with it when the teachers came around. He turned to greet him, tugging at the sleeve of his worn, dark grey zip up hoodie. “Hey man.”  
  
The gentle haze of half a joint, split with the janitor who let him up into the sound room for the theatre of the school, kept a lazy grin on Michael Mell’s face as he made his way towards his best friend. Junior year was proceeding much the same as sophomore year had- too much homework and too much tormenting from their peers to make it worthwhile to be sober during the hours of 8 am to 3:30.  
  
The only thing that made it tolerable was Jeremy, his best friend, the same boy who seemed to be flagging him down in the hallway. He gave a grin, making his way over and pulling his headphones down around his neck.  
“Jeremy, buddy, how’s it hangin’? How was social studies?”  
  
Jeremy shrugged a little bit at the question, making a face similar to that of someone who had mistakenly eaten a decorative soap instead of a chocolate. “Social Studies.” he said flatly, shaking his head a little. “I’d ask you the same question but it smells like you didn’t go.”  
  
Michael gave a shrug, shifting his bag on his back. “Didn’t see the point of going to english today. I was gunna ask you to skip but I know Jenkins is on your case about attendance. Wanna hit sev-elev for lunch?”  
  
“I need a slurpee bigger than my head.” was the simple answer, and he closed his locker with a metallic clang. A quick pat down of his pockets to make sure he had his wallet, and he started toward the door with Michael, the two of them chatting animatedly about the Nintendo game he’d seen at the second hand shop over the weekend. At least, that is, until Jeremy saw Her. Christine Canigula, the object of his desire for years. He faltered a moment, running out of words to say as his gaze drifted to her and he got this dreamy look about him.  
  
Michael paused as Jeremy's end of the conversation came to a halt, and he sighed as he followed his friends gaze to where Christine stood. He waited a moment before taking a steadying breath and nudging Jeremy hard, nodding towards the girl once he’d regained the other teens attention.  
“Why don’t you go ask her out dude? You’ve been obsessed with her since-“ -forever- “-she moved here.”  
  
That seemed to snap Jeremy from his stupification and he turned his attention back to the other with wide eyes. “Wh- No! I-I mean I, ah, I wouldn’t even know what to say. I can’t just walk up to a girl like that.” He was firm on the matter, and instead opened the door for Michael, with a sweeping gesture. “Seven Eleven awaits.”  
The avoidance got him a raised brow but Michael chose to allow the subject change, digging in the pocket of his red hoodie for the keys to his PT cruiser. “It sure does. Theres gummy bear slurpees now dude. How awesome is that?!”  
  
No sooner did Michael unlock it, than Jeremy was climbing in and hitting play on the cassette in the player. “Yeah, that’s pretty cool. I still like sour watermelon better.”  
“Your face is a watermelon of which I’m constantly soured by. You defile this friendship.” ... Jeremy couldn't decide whether or not to be offended by that. The two of them got into the car, and Michael started it, quick to pull out of the student parking lot to head towards their concrete oasis. “Are we still on for games tonight?”  
“Well we still have to get through the waves of zombies in level eight, and I don’t intend to rest until we do.” he told him matter of factly, giving him a serious look even though he was obviously just joking.  
  
“Sleep is for the weak, and the weak don’t make it to level nine dude!” Michael flashed him a cheesy grin, and Jeremy returned the sentiment with the widest, crooked smile he could manage. Michael laughed, turning into the parking look of the 7-11. “Master, we have arrived!”  
  
Jeremy quickly schooled his his expression into a serious one and nodded firmly. “Very good, Jeeves.” he teased and was back to grinning as he got out of the car and went inside to find sweet, sweet sugary sustenance. At least he wasn’t acne prone.  
  
Michael followed, rolling his eyes as he grabbed a bag of Doritos as they passed the display. “You know, someday in the near future you’re going to have to get your drivers license. I can’t chauffeur you forever.” He nudged Jeremy’s arm with a half grin. “Like, what if you finally find your balls and ask out Christine? You want me to drive on all your dates?”  
  
Jeremy was focused intently on the slurpee machine instead of the displays of chips and assorted candies. He got the largest cup he could find and started to fill it with the toxically pink slush that he craved. “Yeah, I know. Dad just doesn’t think someone as anxious as me needs to be on the road.” And honestly who could blame him? But he didn’t appreciate his dad trying to step in and have parental influence when he had been so absent since the divorce. “So if you’re tired of driving me around, you’re gonna have to teach me, my dude.”  
  
Michael grabbed his own cup, leaning against Jeremy to rest his chin on his shoulder as he perused the selection available. “I mean I could totally teach you but you’re gunna learn to drive standard, the PT’s not automatic dude.” He nudged Jeremy out of the way once the other teens cup was filled, pouring a mixture of several flavours before lidding his cup.  
  
Jeremy popped a lid on his own cup and went to look at the hot food they were offering that day with Michael in tow. “Yeah, I know. I don’t even know if I should. I mean, Dad was right. I am a nervous wreck all the damn time. I need to... fucking chill I guess.”  
  
“Have you considered the calming nature of the cannabis plant, my good friend? It could help your neurotic ways.” He grinned and imitated taking a hit.Jeremy rolled his eyes and nudged the other boy, making sure not to do so hard enough to knock their slushes and make a mess. You know, pretending he could. “You stoner.” he laughed, picking out some stuff for his lunch, and paying for it so they could go.  
  
Paying for his own items, Michael lead him back to the car and let them into it. “Hey man don’t knock it til you try it. It helps with my anxiety.” He started the car and headed back towards the school. Jeremy was taken aback by the casual sentence. Maybe he’d been really good at hiding it, or maybe he really was a pretty well constant stoner, but he didn’t realize that Michael had anxiety. He always seemed so calm and cool, and in control. He mulled that over until Michaels voice broke through the mental internalization.  
  
“Man we should just skip, its just gym and physics.”  
“I mean, gym I could take or leave, but I kind of like Physics...” Michael wrinkled his nose, turning into the school parking lot. “Of course you do. Martell puts me to sleep man, and I’m pretty sure Rich is out for my blood today, he locked me in the handicap stall earlier.”  
  
Jeremy made a face at that and frowned a little bit. “Yeah, I don’t know what’s up with Rich lately. He seems really different than last year.” He didn’t bother getting out of the car though, and instead made himself comfortable as he opened his food, and started to eat like the starving teenager he was. Taking a sip of his slurpee Michael nodded, thinking back to Rich’s behavior change. “He use to be a decent guy. Now he’s just an asshole.” he agreed.  
  
“He’s definitely way more popular now though. Did you hear that him and Jenna Rowlan were a thing over the summer?” Jeremy mused thoughtfully, taking a sip of his own sour slush. “They broke up before school started though.”  
  
“I had heard that yes. I also heard that Chloe and Jake broke up, which weiiiird man. I’m pretty sure they’ve been together since middle school.” Michael tore open his bag of chips, he nibbled on the corner of one thoughtfully. “And we’re still flying solo, how depressing.”  
  
Jeremy’s expression clouded with irritation and exasperation. “And somehow you still choose to keep reminding me.”  
  
Michael gave a half shrug. “Well ONE of us has a shot. If I keep reminding you maybe you’ll actually do something about it!”  
  
The tall boy groaned and threw his head back, in the same dramatico as always. “Uuuuugh. I think you have more faith in my prowess with women than you should. Christine wouldn’t even hang out with a guy like me.”  
  
“But how do you know? Dude you haven’t even tried to talk to her, and you’re an amazing guy. Sweet, funny, smart, kind- she’d be crazy not to want to go out with you.” Michael gave him a look, pointing his slurpee at Jeremy. He leaned forward instead of answering and took a drink of the amalgamation of frozen flavours, and made a face at the sickly sweet, quickly going back to his own, stuffing his face with food so he didn’t have to admit how nice it was to hear his best friend say that stuff about him.  
  
Michael gave a scoff at Jeremy’s look of distaste at the flavour of his drink, popping the straw back in his mouth as he gave Jeremy a thoughtful look. “You’re pretty cute, too. You’ve got that young Ryan gosling look going for you.”  
  
Jeremy paused at that, looking a bit confused. He’d never found Ryan Gosling to be particularly attractive, but if the man is popular then it’s supposed to be a compliment right? “... thank you?”  
  
“You’re still a geek though, but she doesn’t know that yet. Write her a note or something, say more than ‘uhhhh uh i ih’ to her.” Michaels expression dropped some as he poked around his chips, brow furrowed. “How do you even know you like her more than her looks? You’ve never even had a conversation.” He wasn’t bitter. Honest. Jeremy looked a bit troubled by the accusation, and he pulled his feet up and shrugged a little bit.  
  
“I know stuff about her.” He defended, picking at his jeans a little. “She likes drama club, her favorite color is yellow, she has amazing grades...”  
“What does she like to do outside of school?” He shot Jeremy a sympathetic look. “Jere, you’ve got to try to talk to her. I don’t want you to pine after an idea-“ -unlike him, pining for his best friend- “-of a person. “  
  
The other boy was quiet for a moment and sighed softly. “Yeah, I know. I’m working on it, Michael.” he muttered, finishing off the gigantic slurpee and putting his garbage back in the bag they gave him.Michael sighed, finishing his slurpee off as well and tucking the half empty bag of chips into his glove box.  
  
“Alright. Do you want to spend the night at my place tonight? My moms have a business thing in New York so they’re staying at a hotel.”  
  
“Yeah, that sounds like fun.” Jeremy was sure his father wouldn’t care, and it left them to game all night if that’s what they wanted to do. It was Friday, after all.  
  
“We can order pizza too, it’l be chill. “ he flashed a grin at Jeremy as the bell ending lunch rang, and he let out a groan. “Ughhhh. Lunch needs to be five hours of the school day.”  
  
Jeremy reciprocated the groan and got out of the car, stretching the stiffness of his muscles from sitting in the car. “I’ll see you after class, okay?”  
  
“If I don’t die first. God speed good sir.” He gave Jeremy a mock salute as he locked up the car, heading in the opposite direction towards the gym.

After class... Jeremy seriously regretted not skipping. He met Michael back out by the car, not for the first time in his life considering taking up smoking. He leaned against the hood while he waited, checking his phone now that the school day was over. There was a saddening lack of any notifications. Lovely. Michael ambled out of the school, headphones on an music blocking out the chatter of the students around him. He almost walked past his car, pausing as he caught sight of Jeremy and pulling his headphones off, music still just audible through the ear pieces. “You look how I feel buddy. Hard class?”  
  
“Understatement.” he responded, running a hand through his hair and shoving his phone back in his pocket. Raising a brow, Michael unlocked the doors and slid into the car. Jeremy got in with him and sighed bitterly, looking rather annoyed.  
  
“Apparently my name is Jerry now.”  
  
“I mean. Its at least kinda close to your name at least?” he offered, in some vain attempt at consolidation.  
  
“Yeah, but even the teacher thought that was my name. You know, the one that taught us in middle school and transferred up?”  
  
Giving a sympathetic noise Michael started the car, heading towards home. “That’s rough. Someone stole my bag in gym. Again.” he shrugged. Jeremy frowned, furrowing his brow at the idea. People in high school were so much worse than middle school.  
  
“Christ. I hope it didn’t have anything important in it.”  
  
“Nah, just my math binder and a half eaten sandwich. Mom’s gunna be pissed when she finds out though, that's the third one so far this year.” He didn’t understand why they seemed to be favoured targets of their peers- they mostly kept to themselves, they tried not to draw attention to themselves. “I'm sorry people were asses and got your name wrong dude. We only have a few more years though right? Then college, where we’ll be cool man.”  
  
“Yeah, but it’s a matter of surviving those years until college.” They both sighed softly, and Jeremy took to looking out the window as they drove into Michaels neighbourhood. “I can lend you a new bag and binder, dude. I still have mine from last year.”  
  
Michael waved his hand, turning past Jake Dellinger’s car to turn onto his road. “Thanks, dude. I’ll have to get a copy of your notes too. Oh, jesus christ-“ he pulled into the driveway to his home, glaring at the paper strewn all across his lawn, his bookbag abandoned near the post for his mailbox. “Seriously?!”  
  
“Fuck.” Jeremy cursed, seeing the carnage of the abandoned binder. He got out of the car and started gathering the papers, stacking them as neatly as he could.Michael followed suit, angrily plucking the sheets off the ground as he made his way across the grass. Jeremy really didn’t understand why they were bullied so much. He couldn’t recall ever having done anything to piss them off.  
  
“You’d think they’d get tired of doing the same thing every week. Camille put up cameras last week, she’s...really pissed with the school board for not dealing with the bullying stuff. I think she was talking to your dad the other day about it.” Michael told him, and Jeremy laughed a little, but it was a grim laugh, irritated and bitter.  
  
“My dad won’t do anything to help them. I don’t even remember the last time I saw him wear pants let alone step up as a parent.”  
  
“Yeah...I keep telling my moms that i just have to keep my head down and I’ll be fine but you know Camille...” Michael smiled a little at the thought of his mother, livid for him. “Come on, lets go inside.” He hooked an arm around Jeremys neck, tugging him towards the door. Despite a noise of protest, Jeremy grabbed Michaels bag and followed him inside, grinning a little bit. The house was clean, as per usual and he took his shoes off to set them on the shoe mat so he didn’t disrupt the clean. Michael kicked off his own shoes, shoving the pile of papers in his hand onto the entryway table before leading Jeremy into the living room. His mothers had impeccable taste- the house was modernly decorated in navy blues and cream colours, crisp and clean.  
  
“I’m gunna call ma in a minute and make sure they made it to the hotel, you want a snack?” He already had his phone out, his ma’s number ready to be dialed.  
“Nah, I’m fine.” Jeremy shook his head and flopped down on the couch, smiling a little at the familiar, homey surroundings. Michael nodded, calling his moms as he went to grab a bottle of water before collapsing beside Jeremy on the couch, half on top of him. He didn’t complain, and just shifted under his friend with a light chuckle.  
  
“You’re so comfy for a skinny fuck.” Michael teased, curling up against him happily.  
  
“It’s not like I don’t try not to be skinny.” he protested. In fact, Jeremy probably ate more junk than Michael did.  
  
“Doesn’t mean you aren’t comfy. Best pillow right here.” He reached for the remote, flicking on the tv and grabbing the game controllers, handing one to Jeremy, who took it and made adequate room for his best friend, letting him lay practically in his lap as they start to play. He loved these old school games, and playing them with Michael was just the icing on the cake. They always worked so well together. They made the perfect team, and it was Michael’s favourite thing to do. He sprawled back against the taller teens stomach, humming happily.  
  
As the two of them played, Jeremy could almost forget the events of the day, and it was easier to relax with him. After several hours, tearing through a bag of pizza rolls and a couple of sodas, and some hard work and frustration, they reached it. The end of level 8! Jeremy let out a cheerful cry and tossed his controller up, laughing gleefully. They'd been trying to beat that level for a week solid. Michael ducked away as the controller fell close to him, cheering as well as he rolled onto his stomach to look up at Jeremy. “We did it dude! We made it to the cafetorium! No one can defeat us!!”  
  
"... except probably the level 9 zombies for a while." he joked, shaking his head a little bit and grinning down at his best friend. Wrinkling his nose, Michael reached up to prod Jeremy’s cheek with his controller. He puffed out his cheek where Michael poked it.  
  
“That’s surrender-ist talk and I won’t have it.”  
"It's realist talk, Michael."  
“Realism is over rated, Jere, thats why we play video games.” He rested his cheek on Jeremy’s chest with a sigh. Tapping the controller against his own bottom lip.  
"Yeah, well I think it's bed time now." he suggested, taking a look at the clock. It was well into AM, and Jeremy's entire body was crying out to lay down.  
“Yeah, it’s pretty late. You wanna share my bed or should I go find the blow up?” It wouldn’t be the first time they shared a bed for sure- they’d been friends forever.  
  
"Man, it's too late for digging around in the hell that is your mother's storage closet." Jeremy scoffed, and got up off of the couch, stretching and sighing when his joints snapped and released their tension. Michael half rolled off the couch, giving a snort as he stood too.  
  
“I swear theres something living up there. You go up, I’m gunna lock up and set the alarm.” He scratched the back of his neck, giving Jeremy a smile. “You’re pjs are in my top drawer, try to control yourself at the sight of my underwear.” Michael teased him, moving to the large bay window to make sure it was locked.  
  
“No promises.” Jeremy joked in return, but in reality it wouldn’t be the first time that he thought about Michael in his underwear. Michael had a nice body, though he was a lot shorter and softer than Jeremy. Jeremy admired it, and if he were into guys, Michael would be top of his list. He made his way upstairs with that thought in his mind, wondering. Was he into guys?  
  
By the time Michael got upstairs, he’d changed into the PJ pants, and was just about to tug his shirt on. Michael paused in the doorway, cheeks reddening slightly as his eyes skating over Jeremy’s exposed chest for a moment before he licked his lips and turned towards his dresser, rooting through the top drawer for a pair of Pac-Man boxers and a muscle shirt as he tried to push his crush on Jeremy away. The other boy was clearly into Christine Canigula-he had no chance.  
  
“We’re all locked up.” He announced, turning his back on the other teen to pull his shirt up over his head, body shy but familiar enough with Jeremy to not worry too much about it as he tossed his shirt into the wicker hamper near his closet door. “No burglars are getting in here tonight.”  
  
With the question of whether or not he could be into Michael still fresh in his head, the sight of him shirtless just complicated the matters a bit more. He flopped down on the bed to push the thought aside and pillowed his arms under his head. “Cool, no middle of the night adventures for us tonight.”  
  
Snorting, Michael quickly changed into his pacman shorts before moving to throw himself down on the bed hard enough to make Jeremy bounce. “And here I was looking forward to being kidnapped and married off as some sort of sexy slace. Shame.”  
  
Jeremy laughed at that and elbowed him a little, pulling the blanket up over himself. “You have no one to blame but yourself Princess Leia. You locked the door.”  
“I mean. Maybe I only want to go with the robber who makes the most effort.” Michael stuck his tongue out before rolling off the bed again, switching on his lamp before turning off his bedroom light and rejoining Jeremy in bed. “I think i need a bigger bed soon.”  
  
Jeremy shrugged a little, kind of enjoying the closeness, but he was definitely right. There was not adequate space for the both of them to sleep comfortably... without maybe cuddling. “I’ve been telling you that for ages.”  
  
Michael rolled onto his side, flopping an arm across Jeremy’s stomach with a groan. The arm around him was nice, and far warmer than he was. “Okay but. This bed was hand made by my pappi. I will keep it until I can’t fit in it at all. Anyone who wants to sleep with me will just have to accept that they’re going to get their cuddle on.”  
  
“The way you say that implies you ever have sleepovers with people that aren’t me.” He reminded him. Jeremy settled into bed then, yawning widely and getting himself ready to sleep. Shifting to turn off the lamp before moving just a bit closer, Michael pressed his face against Jeremy’s shoulder with a huff.  
“It could happen.” The accusation had Michael pouting.  
  
“Yes, yes. Some day you will have someone else in this bed with you Michael. Maybe some day your right hand will have a break.” he teased, grinning brightly. “You should give your left hand a try some day.”  
  
Giving him a shove, Michael snorted. Jeremy laughed, grabbing the bed frame so he didn’t slide out and pushing himself a little closer to his friend.  
“Fucking rude Jeremy. I invite you in my bed- where I do my best work!- and you do nothing but be rude to me.” he flushed slightly, realizing how his words could come across.  
  
“Your best work, huh?”  
  
Half rolling himself on top of Jeremy to keep him from slipping off the bed, he smirked. “My BEST work. Obviously.”  
  
“Shut up and get some sleep, Mell. It’s too late for this shit.” He smiled, and wrapped tired arms around Michael now and holding him close without even thinking about it until his heart picked up speed, but he didn’t say anything about it. Snuggling himself into Jeremy’s warmth, Michael gave a huff and made himself comfortable. “You’re making me waffles tomorrow morning.” he murmured, already drifting off to sleep.  
  
Jeremy didn’t say anything to that either, instead giving him a little squeeze and closing his eyes. It took him longer to fall asleep than Michael, but it gave him the opportunity to think for a while, and look down at him. When it looked like he was asleep, he pushed the hair from Michaels face, and just watched him a while, how peaceful he looked with his heart pounding. Maybe this would be nice.  
  
He fell asleep a while later and ended up sleeping in even longer than Michael.


	2. Vintage Arcades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poorly edited, but I'm lazy and... people want chapter two lmao

Michael woke up to the sound of soft snoring in his ear, startling slightly as his eyes shot open. His face was pressed into Jeremy’s neck, their legs entwined and his arm draped over Jeremy’s stomach comfortably. He took a slow breath, realizing the other teen was still asleep as he lifted his head slightly, and hesitated before he curled back against him, wanting a few more minutes of being wrapped up in the warmth of the other boy. 

He couldn’t count how many times he’d dreamed of waking up curled against Jeremy, only to open his eyes to an empty bed and a pit-less feeling in his stomach. He wanted to savour it for a few more minutes before Jeremy woke up himself.

It took a bit for Jeremy to wake up, too solidly deep in a disorienting dream, but eventually he opened his eyes and gave Michael a tired smile, stretching and running a hand through his hair. “Morning, dude.” Michael shifted to move away from Jeremy some, letting him wake up a moment before prodding his side. 

“Waffles. Waffflllles.”

Jeremy just laughed a little and proceeded to drag himself from bed. “Yeah, I heard you last night.” he grumbled, scrubbing a hand over his face and through his hair. “I gotta pee first.” He told him, and got up to go to the bathroom, ignorant of the morning erection he had until he got into the bathroom. Well fuck.

Michael rolled onto his back, pulling his pillow over his face as he took a slow breath, face beet red at the eyeful he’d gotten when Jeremy had stood up. If there was a god, she was testing him today. It took Jeremy a bit longer than normal to get it to go away, so he could use the bathroom, but when he finished, he washed his hands and exited the bathroom, poking his head into the bedroom again. 

“Come on you. Waffle time.” Pulling the pillow from his face Michael gave him a quick once over and sat up. 

“With chocolate chips.” he stated firmly, subtly adjusting himself as he stood to follow the other teen downstairs. Luckily for him, Jeremy didn’t look back when he left to start making Michaels requested chocolate chip waffles. He was a pretty decent cook, having to do so a lot after his mother left, so he liked that Michael seemed to show an appreciation for it.

Michael settled at the island counter, sleepily watching Jeremy moving about his kitchen like he belonged there.   
“Your waffles are my favorite,” he murmured around a yawn, resting his chin in his arms as he slumped against the cool marble.

“That’s because you make me make them for you all the time.” Jeremy teased, pouring the batter and chocolate into the maker and closing it firmly.

“No way, it’s because you make them best.” Michael grinned, stretched as he leaned back on his stool. “It’s cause you’re my favorite person obviously.”

“I’m your favorite person, huh?” He raised an eyebrow at him, but it made his chest flutter. That was... really nice to hear. Michael gave a shy little shrug, a small smile creeping over his lips.   
“I mean...yeah dude. You kinda are.”

The sudden seriousness made Jeremy flush lightly and he grins. “Well... I mean, same. You’re my best friend.”

Michael hesitated a moment before leaning on his elbow, watching Jeremy silently for a long moment. “You’re my only friend.” He stated softly. “And besides my moms, you’re the most important person in my life. You know that, right?”

The whole statement felt like something Michael probably shouldn’t be saying. Like he’s trying to say goodbye or something. He pushed the thought away and put the first of the waffles on a plate, before pushing them over to him. “... I don’t really have anyone but you, Michael. My dad isn’t there, and my mom... I haven’t seen her since the divorce. So I think I get how you feel.”

Nodding, Michael pulled the plate to himself, chewing his lower lip slightly as he moved to open the pantry door, pausing in pulling the syrup down with a frown. “I just...i really do think that if Christine is...who...you want, you have a chance. “ He sighed, wrapping his fingers around Mrs. Buttersworth and pulling her down. “I’m just. I don’t know. Ignore me dude, I’m not awake yet.”

Jeremy was quiet for a while, his back to Michael as he poured the batter in the waffle maker minus the chocolate. “...Thanks.”

Sorting down at the table, he poured a generous amount of syrup onto his waffle, taking a bite and chewing thoughtfully. “We should hit up the arcade later dude. Its ten tokens for a dime day.” Anything to break the weird tension hanging over them now.

That seemed to do it well, and he brightened up at that. “Hell yeah. You just wanna kick some ten year olds ass at DDR, but I’ll take that excuse to binge play some pinball.”

Michael snorted, shaking his head. “Those ten year olds shouldn’t step up if they can’t keep up okay.”

“Dude you’re like six years older than them.” He pointed out, popping his own waffles out of the maker and unplugging it so he could join his friend for breakfast.

“And they should respect their elders. Clearly.” He made a face over his plate, nudging the stool next to him.

He plopped himself down on the stool and chuckled a little bit, stabbing into his dry waffle and taking a good bite, and he spoke with his mouth full. “Think I can make enough tickets to get that alien pencil topper this time?”

Chuckling, Michael shrugged. “Maybe man. I’ll try to help you this time.” He waggled his brows, pointing his fork at him. “I get shared custody though.”

“Such a gentleman.” he scoffed and took another bite of his waffle in true starving hormonal teenager fashion.

Michael ate in silence, pleased that the mood had lightened some. This was why he smoked pot- he made things too dark sometimes without meaning to. “God I hope Jake and Rich arent there. I’d like one day thats asshole free.”

“Yeah same. I don’t think guys like them like to hang around the arcade though.” He pointed out, finishing off the waffles and sitting back, debating if he wanted to make another one.

Humming at that, Michael brought his now empty plate to the sink to rinse off before putting it into the dishwasher. “Well Mr.Hanson wont let them start shit so we should be good either way yeah? You still hungry?”

“Nah, don’t think so. I considered it but that’s a lot of work.” He joked, getting up and giving his plate to Michael and he put away the waffle maker after giving it a wipe down.

“That's fair. If we get hungry we can grab corn dogs at the arcade or something.” Stretching, he tried to reach behind his back to scratch a spot between his shoulders, letting out a whine when he couldn’t reach. “Jere, help.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes and turned him, scratching at the spot he knew was itchy. It was the same one every time. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Letting out an unholy moan, Michael half melted against Jeremy with a sigh. “Okay magic fingers. I’ll take one in my moms bathroom while you do that.”

He nodded and went to grab his jeans, and one of Michaels shirts. A bit big on him for sure, but he didn’t mind it at all. It was better than wearing his own. He was in the shower maybe a bit longer than normal just to contemplate things.

Michael grabbed his own jeans and an Alien’s shirt, disappearing into his moms bathroom to shower and change quickly before returning to his room to flop face down on his bed. He loved when Jeremy spent the night...a little too much, sometimes. And sometimes he thought he might stand a chance if he said something to Jeremy, and then the other teen would say something that would shit him up. 

Ugh. Feelings. He buried his face in his bedspread.

Jeremy finished his shower, toweling off his hair and pulling on his clothes. He’d had a good long think while he was in the shower, and most of it was about Michael. It was fine to think about him, but only if it wasn’t around him. He didn’t want to have to explain to him why he was so distracted- especially since he was a terrible liar. He had to tame his thoughts as he came out, only to find him face down on the bed. “... I thought you were showering?”

His voice was muffled as he spoke, face still in his bedding. “I did. Some of us don't need twenty minutes to wash.” Pushing himself up, he grabbed his wallet off his nightstand. “Ready to go?”

“Rude Michael. I value my cleanliness.” He defended, picking up his bag that had his stuff in it. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Snickering, Michael slipped past him to lead him downstairs and out the door to his car. “I'm clean! I smell DELIGHTFUL bitch shit up. Sniff me.” He pressed against Jeremy, lifting and arm.

Jeremy shoved him back a little and laughed, tossing his bag in the car. “Yeah you smell like a fresh summer daisy. Can we go now?”

Chuckling, Michael got into the car and started it up. “Damn right I smell like a fresh summer daisy. Alright, to the arcade!”

As soon as they got there, and exchanged a good $20 in tokens each, Jeremy plastered himself onto the only free pinball machine, full of 80s cartoon references and wished his best friend luck at DDR as he tried his best to win the requisite 30 tickets for his beloved pencil topper that he never seemed to be able to win.

Michael spend a good portion of his tokens completely obliterating children at DDR, casting glances towards Jeremy to keep track of him between rounds before moving to join him after awhile. “Hows it going cowboy?”

Jeremy had just finished his last round of pinball when Michael returned, and he held up his winnings. “22 tickets.” He poured a little bit. He was always just a little bit shy.

Michael chuckled, looping an arm around Jeremy’s shoulder. “You want me to help you finally get it? I twisted my knee weird that last round so I think I’m done for the day with DDR.”

“You don’t have to do that.” he protested, looking a bit sheepish. “I know I’m pouty, but I will get it some day.”

Michael nudge him, grinning. “Dude it’s fine. C’mon, I’ll win you the tickets in skeeball.” He guided Jeremy to the machines, popping one of his tokens in and taking the first ball that rolled down to him, carefully lining up his shot before rolling his toss. The wooden ball shot up and arched almost perfectly into the 40 point spot, and Michael gave a slight frown. “Oh man I picked the tilted machine. Okay. I got this.”

Jeremy leaned against the machine and watched him intently, taking in the skill and concentration it must have taken for that. He was shit at skeeball, but Michael seemed to know what he was doing. So much so that it made him a little jealous sometimes.

Michael adjusted his aim and pulled back his next shot, sending the ball directly into the 100 point hole. Grinning- this was one of the few things he excelled at- he took his next shot, landing it perfectly again.

Jeremy grinned and by the time the game was over, Michael probably had enough tickets for more than one of the pencil toppers. “Holy shit dude.”

Gathering up the pile of tickets to Jeremy with a grin. “For you, kind sir.”

He... definitely didn’t expect to get all of the tickets. He held up a hand to him to wait there, and disappeared to the prize counter. What did he come back with instead? Necklaces. He handed one to Michael, and latched the other around his neck. They were pac-man ghosts, and together they said Player One and Player Two.

Michaels eyes widened as he stared at the necklace, taking it and looking up at Jeremy in awe. “Dude, but your topper...you’ve been trying to get that forever.”

“But I’d rather have something for the both of us.” He explained, shrugging a little bit, his face heating pink at the look on Michaels face.

Michael put the necklace on, biting his lip before grinning at Jeremy. “Thanks dude. i’ll win you the topper next time.”

He shrugged a little bit and put his arm around Michael, heading toward the cafeteria area so they could get some food. “I’m not worried about it.”

Following Jeremy, a warmth spread through Michael’s chest as he fingered the necklace as they walked. “Yeah but I wanna get it for you. So.” He steered them towards the line, glancing at the board listing food items even though he always got the same thing.

Jeremy ordered chili cheese fries, and let Michael order, and then moved off to the side to wait for the food, humming along to the old song that played quite frequently there. It was like the owner liked to loop one tape.

Michael made a show of putting far too much mustard on his corn dog once it arrived, grinning as he waited for Jeremy before leading them to a table tucked into the far corner. Taking a huge bite, half the corn dog disappeared, and he chewed thoughtfully before swallowing. “So what else should we do?”

“I don’t know.” He admitted, popping three fries at a time into his mouth. Honestly he didn’t find the town too stimulating so he was never sure what to do when Michael wanted to go out and do stuff.

Humming, Michael demolished the other half of his corn dog before speaking again, a mischievous grin crossing his lips. “We could go to the community center. i think the junior theater productions having open rehearsal, could be amusing.” He only knew because he’d almost agreed to work sound for the production when Mr. Reyes had approached him in class a few weeks prior.

Seeing the theater kids would mean seeing Christine for sure... but the idea was just terrifying enough to outweigh the fun of it, and he ended up shaking his head. “Nah. Why don’t we go check out the old VHS rental place and see what they’ve got?”

Michael perked up at that, leaning back in his seat as he shot Jeremy a grin. “I bet there's some banging horror movies, lets do it!”

Oh great. Horror. He didn’t say anything about his distaste for them though, and instead just followed him out of the arcade when they finished their food.

The drive to the VHS rental store was peppered with conversation, and Michael gleefully pulled into the parking lot for the store twenty minutes later. “Okay so how many movies should we get? One each?”

“Sounds good. Pick one that makes a statement.” He decided, getting out of the car. He liked the guy who worked the counter, at least until he started judging your taste in movies. He’d been burned by Randall a few times for his not-so-wonderful taste in movies.

Michael followed Jeremy into the store, noting that Randall had seemingly disappeared (to the attached convenience store he had no doubt) as they entered. “Hey do you think Randall and the dude at the store next door are together? Like...they fight like an old married couple every time I see them.”

“That’s what I heard.” He shrugged a little bit, looking over the shelves and shelves of old movies. “The blonde guy in the alley was talking about it one day, so I always assumed. As long as they’re happy.”

Giving a nod, Michael started towards the horror movie section, looking for something cheesy and horrible. He picked through several titles before one out of place box caught his attention, and he gleefully plucked the misplaced title up before turning to seek out Jeremy.

Jeremy had already found a movie when Michael found him, and he headed back to the counter, prepared to be judged immensely. Randall was back, which meant his selection of Pretty Woman was going to be berated to hell and back.

Michael slapped his choice down onto the counter, uncaring about the pinched look Randall gave him as he held up the case. 

“The Howling, dude? Seriously? There’s better werewolf movies out there kid.” Michael rolled his eyes, tapping the case and raising a brow.

“One, it’s a classic horror movie, two, it’s in the so bad its good quality, three go suck an egg dude its a great movie.”

Jeremy grinned at his best friends tenacity, and the two of them left when they paid for their movie rentals, and headed back to Jeremy’s. He was the one with a VCR, so they always ended up holed up in his room with snacks and the movies.

Michael made himself comfortable on Jeremy’s bed, watching idly as Jeremy set up the VCR and shamelessly using the opportunity to check out his friend while he was distracted. “My movies not actually THAT scary, I promise.” He teased.

He set up the VCR and shoved the horror movie into it first, coming back to flop down on the bed and open a bag of chips. “I believe you. It’s probably too cheesy to be scary.”

Rolling onto his stomach, he reached for the bag to steal a few chips as he chuckled. “Wait until you see the werewolf transformations, dude. It’s horrifically beautiful in a horrendous sort of way.” He shifted to press against Jeremy slightly, trying to get comfortable.

He rolled his eyes, but ended up laughing and making fun of most of the movie, and by the end of it he was invested, barely noticing how close Michael had gotten.

Michael was pressed along Jeremy’s side by the end of the movie, his attention more on the other boy than the film itself as the credits began to roll. It took him a moment before he cleared his throat, shifting back slightly as his gaze flickered from Jeremy’s face to the credits scrolling the screen. “So what did you think?”

He thought about it for a minute, trying to articulate how he felt about it. “If you can get past the SFX, the story is actually really good dude.”

Michael beamed, nodding enthusiastically. “Right? Like this movie set the precedent for werewolf horror movies, but it also inspired stuff like the original Teen Wolf and stuff.” He flushed some, a little embarrassed by his gushing.

“Teen Wolf was pretty good.” He admitted, getting up to rewind the film. “You got a thing for werewolves?”

Michael’s cheeks reddened and he stammered a moment. “Are you kidding me? Supernatural dudes who are dogs? Dream boyfriend. How freaking loyal would he be.”

“I don’t think that’s how that works.” He shakes his head, popping the VHS out and pushing in his own. He has a soft spot for rom-coms.

Michael groaned as the opening scene began, sitting up as he stretched his back some. “God, every time we watch a rom-com I feel like you should have bought me dinner first and I should keep an eye on frisky hands. If I’m stuck watching this, you’re giving me cuddles. I’m sorely lacking human affection.”

“Fine.” He sighed dramatically and leaned back against the headboard, opening his arms for Michael to come and cuddle. He didn’t mind- and even if he were worried about getting judged, there was no one there to say anything.

Shifting to lay in the vee of Jeremy’s legs, he made himself comfortable as he reached to pull Jeremy’s arms around him. He sometimes wondered if Jeremy found his constant need for physical contact annoying- most sixteen year old boys didn’t cuddle their guy friends- but his moms had raised him to be an incredibly tactile person. Letting his head rest back against Jeremy’s chest, he tensed only slightly, waiting to see Jeremy’s reaction, worried this would be the time his tactile nature had gone too far.

It didn’t seem to bother him though. Instead he just wrapped his arms around him and focused his attention on the screen. He was never bothered by Michaels need for affection. It came natural to him to just hold him like that. I mean, usually it didn’t make his chest tight and his heart pound but...

Michael relaxed as the movie played, letting himself settle against Jeremy’s chest, pleased by their seating arrangement even as Julia Roberts shopped onscreen. “I would totally pretty woman someone.”

“You want to take in a hooker?” He laughed a little bit, giving him a squeeze. “I mean give Chloe a few more years.”

Michael snorted, swatting his arm slightly. “No man I’ll be Julia. Get me a sugar daddy to turn me from my vivacious ways and buy me nice things, obviously.”

He laughed a little bit- like Michael really needed a sugar daddy- but he was still pretty focused on the movie. “I think it’d be nice to find love like that. Something that makes you change your entire view on things, you know?”

Michael fell quiet at Jeremy’s words, considering them for a long minute. “I’d just be happy with someone loving me like that. Hell, I’d just be happy finally kissing someone.”

He snorted a little bit at that. “Yeah, same. I’m gonna be a virgin til I die. The only one I’m ever gonna date if things keep going like this is my MacBook Pro hard drive.”

Michael snorted, shifting some to look back at Jeremy. “Dude. You’re cooler than a vintage cassette, someones gonna come along and snatch you up. Plus, you know, you’ve got that cute nerdy thing going for you.” He gave him an almost shy smile. “Plus guys like us? We’re super cool in college. So don’t marry your hard drive yet.”

“You say that, and by the time we get there guys like us won’t be cool anymore. That’s my luck.”

Michael rolled his eyes, shifting up to bite Jeremy’s shoulder. “Stop being an idiot. I just TOLD you that you have a bunch of great qualities. Way to ignore the point.”

He shoved Michael off of him then and put a hand to his shoulder. “Hey, biting is a technical foul. No more cuddles.”

Michael pouted, half rolling off Jeremy to lay beside him instead. “Well you deserved it. Stop getting so down on yourself dude. High school is shit but we’re gunna survive it cause we’ve got each other.”

He sighed softly and looked up at the ceiling. “Yeah, I guess. I just feel like some days I’d like to more than survive.”

Michael huffed, rolling away from Jeremy...

...and right off the bed. “Owww. Shit. That was a miscalculation. “ he groaned as he sat up, rubbing his shoulder.

He sat up straight then, and peered over the side of the bed at him. “Holy shit dude. Are you okay?”

Flapping his hand, he wrinkled his nose before pulling himself up. “Yeah, I’m fine. My shoulder caught my fall.” He settled back on the bed, nudging Jeremy. “There, see, you’re low opinion of yourself literally causes me physical pain. So you need to stop and realize how awesome and amazing you are.”

Jeremy helped him back into the bed and settled back again, nudging Michael back a little. “You know, I don’t recall us chatting through the entirety of your movie, Michael.”

Michael shot him a look. “We haven’t seen The Howling seventeen times, Jeremy. But if that’s your subtle way of telling me to shut up...” he stuck his tongue out T him, teasing him.

He just looked smug and grinned, turning his attention back to the movie in time to catch the dramatic end.

Michael settled back against the headrest, letting his attention fall between the end of the movie and watching Jeremy. His chest tightened slightly at the thought of Jeremy feeling like he’d be alone forever; part of him wanted to shake the other teen and scream ‘I’m right here and I want you!’ While the rest of him was terrified of the potential outcome.

When the movie was over, Jeremy let the credits roll before he got up to rewind it, and pop it back in the case. It was getting to be dark now, and he didn’t realize, so he checked the window. “Don’t forget to call your moms.”

Michael blinked, glancing at the clock. “Shit, I didn’t realize how late it was.” He reached for his phone, pulling up his mothers phone number and pressing his phone to his ear. “Heeey mom. How’s the business thing?” He flopped back against Jeremy, listening to his mother talk about the trip. “No, I’m at Jere’s. Uh huh. Pizza rolls. Waffles. Yes mom. I...” he paused, frowning some. “No, I didn’t-Mom seriously it’s no-mom. Mom! It’s fine. It was just a binder. It’s fine.” He rolled his eyes, slumping against Jeremy bonelessly. No, I’m probably going to stay here tonight?” He glanced at Jeremy, brow raised in question for confirmation.(edited)

Jeremy papped his head and nodded his confirmation. Surely his dad wouldn’t mind, and it’s not like he would even really notice.

“Yeah I’m staying at Jeremy’s. Mmhm. Yeah...yeah. Okay. Hi ma. Yes I’m being good. No, Jeremy’s misbehaving. MOM. Jes- nope okay I’m gunna let yoh go no. I love ypu both. Bye.” Hanging up, he rolled his neck to press his nose into Jeremy’s cheek obnoxiously. “Team Moms say hi and to behave yourself.”

Jeremy rolled away from the press of his nose with a whine. “Well thanks to you they seem to think I’m some kind of hooligan.”

“How am I suppose to remain the favourite child unless I slander the competition?” Michael stated, spreading out over the bed and taking up as much space as possible. “D’you want me to make supper tonight? Since you make breakfast?”

“Yeah, sure. I don’t know what’s in the fridge, but you’re welcome to have at it.” He stated, finally shrugging off his sweater and hanging it up on the door of his closet. He took a glance down at the tattoo he’d gotten that matched Michaels and smiled a little bit. It covered a few old self harm scars, which had been the point of getting them in the first place. It was to celebrate being clean of it, and that was a nice feeling.

Michael flashed him grin, watching him hang up his sweater as he stretched out. “It’s fine, I’m a master of mix and match supper you know that.” He pushed himself up off the bed, shoving his hand in his pockets as he waited.

He grinned a little bit and headed down toward the kitchen with him, planting himself in a chair at the table, watching him with his head rested on his hand. What they did was already pretty domestic. Was it possible that this was what he wanted? He supposed that his ideal relationship with a girl would have been just what he had with Michael, but with some added romance and... other things.

Michael started pulling things from cupboards, pasta and sauce and the like, before opening the fridge door. This was familiar- he spent more time with Jeremy than he did his own parents some days, the taller teen a welcoming warmth in an otherwise dull world. Doing things with Jeremy felt right, like everything just fell into place when they were together. “Steak or chicken, which has been in here longer dude?”

“Chicken.” He answered, though in truth he really wasn’t sure. When he was home alone, he was checked out most of the time, or masturbating. Life seemed dull when he was by himself.

Nodding as he pulled the package from the fridge, Michael set it on the counter as he rooted around for onions, garlic and one lone carrot. “Theres not much in here, I’ll take you shopping tomorrow.” He worried about Jeremy; since his mom had left, Mr.Heere had completely checked out, the ptsd from the war and the depression from his wife leaving him almost crippling him. Michael couldn’t remember the last time the man had worn pants, let alone done anything close to productive around the house. Jeremy had fallen into a similar slump when at home, which led to Michael smoking a joint and power cleaning the Heere’s house once a week, taking Jeremy grocery shopping whenever the fridge got too empty.

“At least let me go bug my dad for money before we do.” Jeremy’s pride hated it when Michael bought them food. Sure, Michael wasnt broke and he probably didn’t mind, but he did. They were 16, and there’s no need for them to have to do this. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have functioning parents.

Michael nodded, pulling out a knife to begin preparing the vegetables as he set the water to boil. “Of course dude. If not i can cover and you guys can pay me back, its as much for me as it is you. I eat here just as much as I do at home.”

He nodded a little bit, “Yeah, sure man.” he shrugged , getting up so he could go find his father.

Michael continued cooking, making mental notes of the things they needed to pick up. He hated that Jeremy’s dad was practically non-existent in his friends life, and he hated even more that Jeremy’s mom had just taken off.

Speaking of a non existent father, it was another fight to get money from him. His father insisted that he could do it, but Jeremy brought up all of the times he said that and Jeremy ended up going hungry. Besides, going out would mean having to put on pants, so soon enough Jeremy was equipped with money for food and a sour attitude as he plopped himself back down at the table.

As Jeremy sat down a plate of pasta was put in front of him, Michael giving him a concerned look as he sat with his own plate. “ you okay?” He asked softly.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” He muttered, stuffing a fork full of the delicious but burning pasta into his mouth so he didn’t have to say anything else.

Michael hummed, pushing his food around his plate for a moment before speaking. “Do you wanna go the the park and smoke a joint after this?”

He swallowed his food and contemplated it a minute. “Yeah, sure.” It wasn’t often that Jeremy agreed, but he didn’t dislike getting high.

Nodding, Michael started to eat, the two falling into silence. Once they were done, Michael took the plates to rinse in the sink before nodding towards the stairs. “You need your sweater before we go?”

“No, I should be okay without it.” They hadn’t run into anyone all day, so the chances of someone they knew seeing the uncovered arm of scars was low. He didn’t care too much about the sweater.

Nodding, Michael started towards the door, slipping his shoes back on before looping an arm around Jeremy’s shoulders, leading him outside. “So have you picked your extra curricular for next semester yet? I know it’s only October, but have you considered joining me in woodworking?” He’d tried to convince Jeremy to take the class with him for their first semester, but it had been gull when he’d gotten to the sign ups.

Jeremy had just enough time to get into his shoes before he was taken outside, the fresh air assaulting him and burning his lungs in the best way. It was starting to get cooler outside. “I’ve thought about it... I might go for drama though.” A chance to get close to Christine...

A sour look crossed over Michael’s face quickly, disappearing as they turned down the driveway. “I should have expected that, I guess. “ he let his arm drop as he shoved his hands into his sweater pocket, fingering the credit card holder that held his joints and his book of matches. Of course Jeremy would jump at a chance to be in the same class as Christine; he was an idiosyncratic t if he thought that his friend wouldn’t jump at the opportunity.

The attitude drop was new. He didn’t know how to bring it up, so he just put his hands in the pockets of his jeans, shrugging a little bit. “It’s progress, right?”

Michael nodded, pushing past the disappointment to plaster a grin on his face. “Yeah dude, totally! Maybe you’ll actually say something to her if you’re stuck in class with her, right?” He wanted to be cheerfully optimistic for his friend, though the thought of another semester where they were in different extracurriculars sat heavy with him.

“Yeah, maybe...” he shrugged, turning into the gate for the park, pushing it open so they could go sit on the swings.

Michael settled onto one of the swings, pulling out a joint and lighting it before taking a slow, even hit. He felt the constant nervous thrumming in his nerves that was always there when he was sober peter our some, and he let out a sign as he exhaled, holding the joint out to Jeremy.

Jeremy took it, and took a couple of hits much less gracefully than Michael. There was a bit of coughing involved, but he handed it back no worse for the wear and started to swing back and forth gently, his feet never leaving the ground. “Has guidance started bugging you about what you want to do in college yet?”

Michael scoffed, taking a few slow hits before handing it back. “Mrs. Keller says I have absolutely no drive to get in college since I don’t show up to half my classes. I told her my plan is to work in ma’s shop and then take over fully when she retires. I already know how to run the business, why waste my moms hard earned money?” In a way, his life was already planned out for him; his moms had set everything up for him already.

“That’s what you wanna do?” He always thought Michael would want to do something involving video games or something.

Michael hesitated slightly, giving a half shrug. “Not really. I want to make retro style video games, maybe open a restoration shop, but I don’t have the drive to go to school for business to open one myself. The Pot Holder’s not a bad second choice though, I love helping Ma with the shop.”

“... then let’s open a restoration shop.” He shrugged, taking the joint back from him to take another drag. “I wanted to go to business school anyway, and you could program your own games and shit like Toby fox.”

Michael’s hands tightened on the chains of the swing, shifting to look at Jeremy as he pumped his legs. “Yeah? You’d wanna do that?” He already knew a lot about restoration- his grandfather on Camille’s side was a professional restorer and who he’d gotten his love for retro things from, and he had all the technical skills.

“Yeah, why not? I like the idea of being my own boss, and you’re hella passionate about restoration. Let’s do it.” He decided, grinning brightly. “Besides, your current customers might like the idea, so we’d already have a bit of business.”

Michael perked up at that. “That’s true!” He took the joint back, taking a long drag as he leant back in his swing. “I just don’t know how to get Keller to realize that sometimes people just aren’t cut out for more school after high school. Mom’ll be happy though, she wanted me to do something with my restoration but I didn’t see a feasible way to do it...but to do it with you? Dream come true dude.”

Jeremy could feel the bubble like effect in his brain that he got from smoking weed. It was kind of nice sometimes, a stress reliever. The last words out of Michaels mouth made him flush though, his imagination and teenage hormones making him embarrassed. “Well, I’m pretty hyped dude. If Rich weren’t being such a dick I’d get him in on it too. He was a hella good artist, he’d be good at helping with that stuff.”

Michael hummed at the mention of Rich, his mind flittering to thoughts of the short teen, back when the three of them spent most of their time together. “Yeah, it’s a shame he straight up ditched us for Jake. Thats okay, we can make it work dude. We should totally call the shop something tacky like Two Player Game or something.” He grinned, offering the last hit to Jeremy as a pleased grin crossed his lips.

He laughed a little bit and shrugged. “Sure.” He was also thinking of Rich, but... his mind was more focused on what Rich could have done to start hanging out with the popular kids. Maybe he’d ask on Monday.

Michael chuckled, pleased they were able to bring the mood up with their conversation. “Awesome. I totally look forward to it man. Maybe I can use the savings my moms put away for college for a store front!” He almost unconsciously pulled another joint out, his excitement already making him twitchy.

He nods a little and pushes off to start really swinging, and eventually jumps off, laying in the rocks and looking up at the night sky.

The second joint disappeared quickly, the numb chill that Michael was left with relaxing as he jumped off his swing, joining Jeremy on the ground. “I love you, dude.” He stated, eyes roaming the darkened sky above them. Smoking up definitely made him more affectionate than usual, which was a task in itself.

He tried not to take that the way his brain immediately went for it, and smiled a little bit, hooking his arm with Michaels. “Love you too, Michael.” But his face was pink again, and he couldn’t deny the warmth inside when he said it.

Michael wanted to will away the sweep of warmth through his chest at the returned sentiment, bot wanting to let his hopes get up only to be torn down. He curled onto his side, trapping Jeremy’s arm and resting his cheek in the other boys shoulder. “S’nice out tonight.”

“Mm.” He agreed, nodding a little bit and resting his head on the other boys. After a while, when the high starts to settle in, he yawns widely. “Let’s go back home. I’m ready to sleep.”

Whining some, Michael pushed himself up, moving to stand and helping Jeremy up. “Yeah, it’s starting to get chilly out anyways.”

He helped himself up with Michaels hand and started back toward home, chatting idly about the new game he got.

Michael listened, his fingers curled into the sleeves of his sweater as he listened to Jeremy talk. He made the appropriate sounds of enthused approval, tucking his hands into his sweaters pocket to resist the urge to reach out and lace his fingers with Jeremys. “Do I have to go find the sleeping bag?” He asked as they reached Jeremys house,

“No?” He laughed a little bit, unlocking the door and pushing his way inside to kick off his shoes. “I assumed you’d sleep with me.”

Michael paused in toeing off his shoes, Jeremy’s words exactly what he wanted to hear, though in differing circumstances. “Yeah no I meant are you gunna hog the blankets like you did last night?” He asked, cheeks flushed as he followed him up to his room.

“I might.” Though this was just a tease and he knew it. Jeremy never hogged blankets when sharing a bed with Michael, the other boy was always far too warm.

Michael grinned as they entered Jeremy’s room, and he pulled his hoodie over his head to toss over Jeremy’s computer chair, giving a wide yawn. “S’okay I sleep in just my boxers? I didnt bring back my sleep pants.”

“... yeah, that’s fine. It’s what I usually do anyhow.” He shrugged, going to tug off his belt.

Michael undid his jeans, slipping out of them and placing them with his sweater before moving to get into bed. “Point.” He rolled onto his side, watching Jeremy lazily.

He debated whether or not to put on pants, but if Michael wasn’t, then why should he? He unbuttoned and let his jeans drop, then tugged his shirt up and off, tossing it aside before laying back in bed.

“So we’ll go grocery shopping tomorrow morning, then what do you wanna do?” He curled into Jeremy’s side, carefully not touching the other teen.

“I have homework and shit, I should probably do that.” Much as he hated it, he was still in school.

Michael hummed. “I’ll probably head home after we do groceries then.” He brought his hand up to his face, his fingers a breath from touching Jeremy’s arm.

“Sounds good.” he mumbled, his eyes closing before he can see Michael about to touch him. Not that he would honestly mind.

Michael let his eyes close, and several minutes later he was fast asleep.

Jeremy treasured nights like this. Peaceful, with a good buzz, and Michael at his side. He fell into sleep easily, and slept solidly through the night.


	3. It's Pre-Programmed. It's Amazing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hi, can you tell I was writing this with Dave before I'd seen the play? lol

Monday after school was a bit harder though. He was sitting with Michael playing games, trying to beat level 9 of their favorite game, when he decided to broach the probably-awkward subject. “So uh... I was talking to Rich today.”

Michael glanced at Jeremy, giving him a curious look as he hit the pause button. “Why were you talking to Rich today?” Neither of them had gone out of their way to talk to Rich since he started acting like an asshole.

“Just a bit of a chat. I ran into him in the bathroom.” he lied. He’d gone looking for an opportunity to talk to him. “He uh... h-he told me why he’s been acting differently.”

Michael’s brows rose, and he turned to look at Jeremy properly. “Oh he did, did he? And whats his reason for becoming a colossal asshole?”

“He uh.. he got this thing. I-It’s called a... Squip? I think?” He mulls the word over and chews his lip a moment. “I guess it’s like this pill you take, and it um... it helps you be more popular and shit.”

“He has a pill that makes you more popular.” Michael’s tone was unbelieving, and he stared at Jeremy a moment before snorting. “Are you sure he wasn’t high?”

“Pretty sure. Apparently they’re from japan. It’s like a little robot that goes up and attaches to your brain and stuff.”

Michael set down his controller, giving Jeremy his full attention. “Like a nanobot? Okay, I can sort of believe that I guess. What did you call it? A Squip?” He pulled out his phone and started to google it, giving a frustrated noise as nothing came up. “Is it illegal or something? i can’t find anything.”

“I don’t know, he said it was super new secret tech or something.” Maybe it was illegal. He shrugged it off and peered at the screen as nothing came up. “He bought his from someone at the mall... I think I wanna give it a shot.”

Michael fixed him with an unimpressed look. “You wanna take some magical computer pill That supposedly makes you cooler and was recommended to you by Richard-fucking-Goranski.”

“Well it seemed to work for him. And it might give me a good shot with Christine, and...” he hesitated, looking down at his hands. “Maybe I won’t be such a fucking loser all the time.”

Michael’s look softened some, and he gave a sigh. “It turned Rich into an asshole, are you sure you want that?” He was worried about how the pill could affect Jeremy...as well as their friendship.

“I’m not going to turn into an asshole.” he defended, looking back up at him. “I’ll be careful. Im way more self aware than Rich.”

Humming, Michael picked up his controller again. “Alright. So how do we get this pill, and whats it gunna cost us?”

“I’m not sure where in the mall Rich got it, but I’ll text him and ask.” he did so quickly, and put his phone aside as he waited for the reply. He picked up his controller, but didn’t play yet. Instead, he touched his knee to Michaels and looked over at him. “... you know you’re still my favorite person, right? We’ll always be a team.”

Michael leant against him, giving him a half smirk. “Yeah? Am I your favwrite Pwerson Jere-bear?” He teased, before sobering some. “Just promise you won’t get too cool for video games...or for me.”

“Of course.” He chuckled, and leaned down to rest his head on Michaels a moment.

Michael leant into the touch, though he started slightly as Jeremy’s phone went off. “S’at him?”

He pulled back to check his phone, his heart pounding, only to find a text from Rich. All it said was Rob at Payless. He turned the screen to show Michael, blinking a little bit. The shoe store?

Michael gave a small “huh” at the text, brows raising as the second text came. 600$ cash. “Jesus, six hundred?”

Jeremy almost dropped his phone at that, his face paling. “Jesus Christ!” he muttered, running an astonished hand through his hair.

Michael settled back in his beanbag chair, considering the information. “How much do you have saved up?”

“I’m... not sure. I think close to $450 right now.” he admitted. It wasn’t much, but Jeremy wasn’t... well it was suffice to say his family didn’t have a lot of money.

Nodding, Michael moved to push himself up to stand. “Alright. And you’re sure this is something you want to try?”

“Yeah...” he watched Michael stand with some confusion.

Giving a firm nod, he tucked his hands into his pockets. “Alright. I’ll cover the rest then.” He nodded towards the door. “Payless at the mall, right?”

“Fuck, dude you don’t have to do that.” He protested, looking taken aback. He stood though, so he wasn’t looking up at him.

Michael shrugged, giving Jeremy a smile. “I don’t mind dude. Just don’t forget me when you’re super popular.”

He looked a bit sheepish, and pulled Michael into a hug, pressing the shorter boy into his chest. “Never.”

Wrapping his arms around Jeremy he hugged back, grinning as he pressed a sloppy kiss to Jeremy’s kiss before pulling away from him with a smirk. “Alright lets go make you cool or whatever then.”

He made a face then and his cheeks turned pink as he wiped it off, and laughed. 

Finding the guy was easy enough. They paid for the little pill, and were given it and a set of instructions in Japanese, and he sat in Michaels basement holding it in his hand, while Michael scanned the instructions sheet for google translate. “What’s it say?” He asked anxiously.

Michael looked between the instructions and the google translate he’d pulled up, frowning as he re-read the instructions. “All it says is its activated with mountain dew. Are you kidding me?”

“What the fuck.” He laughed abruptly, shaking his head a little bit. “Do we even have Mountain Dew?”

Michael moved to open the mini fridge, frowning as he looked at the beverage choices. “Uhhhh... yes. It’s probably a few years old? I wonder if it’ll work with Mountain Dew red or blue, I have lots of both...”

“I don’t know. I think it takes the green shit? Like green for go?” He peered over Michaels shoulder curiously.

Michael snorted at that, taking the can from the fridge and handing it to Jeremy. “Alright, green it is. Go on, take your super tech chill pill.”

He popped the grey, oblong pill into his mouth and swallowed it down with the sofa, trying his best not to gag. He’d never been very good at taking pills. He waited a moment or two, before frowning a little. “I wonder how long it’s supposed to take to kick in."  
Michael flopped down beside him, shrugging some. “I mean regular pills take ten to twenty minutes to take effect but I dunno about nanaobot pills dude. The instructions dont really give a timeline.”

“Yeah. If I don’t feel anything after-“ and then his hearing cut out. There was a surprised look on his face, which quickly turned to pain when a voice resounded in his head, and his muscles seized. Something about accessing his muscle memory or something, but it was damn painful.

Michael frowned as Jeremy seemed to seize up, his words cutting off. “Jere?” He pressed a hand to Jeremy’s shoulder, giving him a shake. “Jeremy?!”

It took a long minute for Jeremy to come around again, but once everything calibrated, he was... kind of stunned. He blinked rapidly, adjusting to the holographic sight of someone standing behind Michael as he looked up at him. His eyes were wide. “Holy shit.”

Michael’s eyes widened as he squeezed the hand on Jeremy’s shoulder, giving him a worried look. “Jere? Are you okay?”

Jeremy’s eyes flickered back and forth from the smug and smiling man to Michael, and he nodded. “Yeah... fuck, dude this thing fucking works! Oh my god!”

Michael bounced a little on his heels, giving Jeremy an excited grin. “Awesome man! Whats it like? “

“It’s like... well, he’s standing right behind you.” He explained, as the man appeared to be annoyed, and made a remark about acting like a loser. “Shit dude... I need to go test him out. Let’s go back to the mall.”

Michael glanced behind him, frowning slightly. “Yeah, might as well check it out right? I can grab that case of banana Yahoo Chaz has for me at Spencers.”

He nodded, taking a glance at the squip one more time before he got up off the ground and pulled his sweater back on much to the robots protest.

Michael lead them out to his car, the drive to the mall passing quickly. “So how do you plan on testing this out?”

“Well, we will see what happens I guess. Maybe it’ll give me style tips or something, or like help me talk to people.”he mused, looking out the window as they drove. “I’ll take a walk around and meet up with you after while you go to Spencer’s.”

Nodding, Micheal fidgeted in his seat some as they reached the mall. “One circuit around the mall and then meet me at Spencers okay? I’ll worry you short circuited or something.”

“Promise. And I’ll have my phone on me too.” He grinned, looking nothing short of excited to try out the new technology.

Licking his lips nervously Michael gave a short nod, holding out a fist for Jeremy to bump. “Alright. Good luck and god speed, solider.”

He bumped his fist against Michaels and hopped out of the car, going into the mall. Of course, if Michael was expecting Jeremy to come back promptly he would be severely mistaken. It takes him a bit longer, but he eventually comes back to Michael with a bright smile, and a bounce in his step. “Dude. I talked to Chloe and Brooke today.”

Michael gave him a grin, case of Yahoo tucked under his arm. “Dude, thats awesome! How’d it go? Are you cool yet?” He teased, pushing his glasses up his nose some as he glanced around.

“Definitely not, but Brooke offered me a ride home so I think that’s a step in the right direction.” And then, as though he were being scolded, he straightened up a little bit. “Uh, I mean... it was good. They’re pretty cool.”

Michael blinked at the sudden attitude change, shifting awkwardly as he watched Jeremy’s entire stance shift. “That’s, uh...really cool. Are you...do you want to go with her?” He knew he should encourage it if he did- the whole reason they’d got that squip was to help Jeremy’s popularity after all.

Jeremy hesitated a second, looking back toward the store and he looked back at Michael with a shake of the head. “Nah. I’d rather head home with you.”

Michael’s lips cracked into a smile at that, a warmth swelling in him at the words. “Cool. Do you want to come back to mine, or do you want me to just drop you off?” He started towards the mall entrance, shooting his friend a look at his question.

“I should probably head home, make sure Dads eaten and all that, and get ready for tomorrow.” He decided, following him out of the mall.

“Yeah, yeah. No worries dude. So hows it fee to be cool?” He lead them to his car, glancing at Jeremy every so often.

“I’m not cool!” He protested, his face flushing at the statement. “I was only talking to them, nothing happened.”

“Not with that attitude!” He cackled, unlocking the car once he got to it and depositing the case in the back seat before getting in.

He got in the car and chatted with him a bit about meaningless stuff on the way home, though every so often he was distracted by something the Squip would say.

Michael tried not to focus on Jeremy’s new habit of getting distracted, rambling on as they drove. He pulled up to Jeremy’s house ten minutes later, putting his car in park and shutting it off. “You’ll tell me if anything weird happens tonight right? Call me if you need me?”

“I will.” He promised the other boy, giving him a reassuring smile. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Michael returned the smile, hiving him a nod. “Alright. I’ll see you in the morning then.”


End file.
